Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
DAX
The realization that the amulet had stopped working made Dax panic, and he shoved off the bottom of the cove so hard, he left a divot in the sand as he propelled them to the surface.
Their heads came up over the water, and Dax waited for the choking and gasping that had happened before when Mateo had accidentally inhaled water, which he assumed happened again since they’d been so deep in the water.
It never came. Mateo pushed his thick black hair out of his eyes, looking a little bewildered himself, and glanced down at the amulet, which was back to glowing like it should now that they were at the surface.
Dax couldn’t help reaching out to touch his mate, reassuring himself that he was safe and well. It was then that he noticed the markings that were decorating Mateo’s skin. Markings that looked a lot like his.
“Goddess…” he breathed, awestruck, as he trailed his fingers along the swirling blues and silvers that curled down his mate’s neck and chest. Mateo shied away like it tickled, snickering, and didn’t seem to notice the change at all.
“I don’t think tickling is an appropriate response to the amulet malfunction,” Mateo laughed. “I didn’t notice us going that deep until you did, and nothing bad happened.”
That made Dax frown. He was right, nothing bad did happen, but was that because they noticed the malfunction in time, or were the markings more than just decoration?
For Dax, it was a physical manifestation of the magic that allowed him to breathe underwater and regulate his body temperature. Would it work the same with Mateo?
Mateo cocked his head. “What is it?”
“Look,” Dax encouraged, touching the swirling marks on his ribs.
Mateo looked down, his eyes almost bugging out as he noticed the marks himself. He touched them, an awed expression on his face, then looked up at Dax questioningly. “What are they?”
Dax shook his head. “I don’t know. My brother never mentioned it when I asked him about mating.” But Rovan was also mated to another kraken. It was possible he didn’t know?
Mateo looked at the marks, then at Dax’s marks, and seemed to come to the same conclusion Dax did. “Should we experiment a little?”
Did he want to experiment when it could possibly threaten his mate’s health and safety?
No. But if it did turn out to be what he was hoping it’d be, it could open up a lot of possibilities.
Namely, it would remove the fear he’d have about bringing Mateo to his family home.
The potions worked, he’d been on the team that created them, but he’d always worry about it wearing off at the wrong time if he took Mateo to the kraken city.
If the mating marks meant Mateo could breathe under water like he could, without needing a potion or amulet, then that fear would be gone.
Uneasily, he nodded once. “Okay. But let’s get closer to the shore. Just in case.”
Mateo gave him a sweet smile, leaning in to give him a reassuring kiss, then pulled free of his arms. Or, he tried, anyway.
Dax was having a really hard time letting go just now.
He gave Mateo a pouty face when he laughed, hating the idea of his mate out of his arms for even a second, and only relaxed when Mateo wrapped his legs around Dax’s hips again.
“You know I can swim on my own, right?”
“Yes,” Dax grumbled unhappily, already swimming toward the shore with Mateo in his arms. “I just don’t want to let go right now.”
“Gods, you’re cute,” Mateo grinned, dragging him in for another kiss.
Dax considered using the distraction to his advantage, since having a repeat of their mating sounded a lot more interesting than running an experiment right now, but then they reached shallow enough that Mateo could stand on his own and his mate wriggled out of his hold.
Dax sighed. Might as well get this over with.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a researcher more reluctant to do an experiment before,” Mateo teased.
Dax stuck his tongue out. “Hush, you. I guess let’s do this.”
It was his turn to be incredibly uncomfortable during an experiment.
This was even worse than testing the amulet in the pool, since he’d designed the amulet and knew how it worked.
This was different. He didn’t have a clue if those markings worked the way they thought.
He now felt a little bad about the way he’d forced Mateo to touch him to show him his ability to keep his tentacles clean.
He knew Mateo had been uncomfortable then, and Mateo had no idea how Dax’s magic worked at the time.
It was only fair that Dax was uncomfortable now.
Mateo slipped the amulet over his head, handing it to Dax with a soft smile. Dax’s stomach churned uncomfortably, his heart pounding as fear for his mate threatened to take over.
“We’ll go under together,” Mateo assured him. “If I choke even once, you’ll know right away and can help me get back up. Okay?”
With an unhappy nod, he wrapped one tentacle around Mateo’s waist, unable to help himself.
Together, they slipped under the surface of the water, Mateo taking a deep breath like a habit as he went under.
Cautiously, he let it out once they were both fully submerged, and Dax waited with bated breath for any sort of reaction.
He watched Mateo draw in a breath, his lungs expanding, and the markings on his skin shimmered without fading or changing in any way.
He didn't choke, he didn’t scramble for the surface. He just… breathed.
Relief hit him like a tidal wave, and when Mateo laughed abruptly, Dax couldn’t help but join him. He dragged his mate closer, doing another rendition of touching to reassure himself that his mate was okay.
“Experiment successful?” Mateo asked cheekily, only further solidifying that the purpose of those marks was to allow Dax’s mate to be with him under the water without any issues. He wouldn’t be able to talk if that wasn’t the case.
Chuckling, Dax stole a kiss and nodded. “Experiment successful. I had no idea that was going to happen.”
“I didn’t even know humans could have mates before I met Jonah,” Mateo replied with a shrug. “People don’t really talk about it that much.”
Dax’s brows furrowed. “That’s true. A couple of my siblings are mated, but none of them ever talked to me about it until the day I called my brother. And he didn’t know about human mating either. His mate is a kraken. They knew right away that they were mates.”
Mateo’s brows lifted in surprise. “So they just know? Like an insta-love situation?”
That made Dax snort, and he pulled Mateo along with him to get him moving. If they were both safe to be under here without having to worry about Mateo choking, he wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.
“Not to my knowledge, no. From what little I know, it’s more like a pull, and a general sense of safety and comfort. It’s a little like skipping the early dating stages in terms of how comfortable you are with the person, at least at first.”
“That makes sense,” Mateo agreed, smiling as his feet touched the sandy bottom of the cove and he still breathed easily.
“I know initially I was thinking it was a bad idea to date someone in the office, that it would get too messy and I had too much on my plate already. I just couldn’t stop myself from seeking you out. ”
Dax’s eyes widened, curiosity and delight filling his chest. “So you felt it too, then? I’ll be honest, I had no idea how you might be feeling.
There’s absolutely nothing out there about humans and their mating practices.
It’s like that information was never researched.
Which makes no sense. As a researcher, I can tell you if there’s a question I don’t have the answer to, I’m going to go looking for more information.
I don’t think it’s possible that absolutely no one bothered asking about human mating. ”
Mateo cocked his head. “Maybe it has something to do with the human government? They hate supes. They could have hidden that information?”
That, unfortunately, could have merit. A majority of humans still didn’t like supes.
It was by sheer luck—or fate—that Mateo got hired at Spellbound and was the one assigned to look at Dax’s workstation when he started having issues.
Spellbound was a huge company. There was no guarantee they would’ve run into each other without a little divine intervention.
They swam around for a while, just enjoying the warm water and the quiet time together.
Mateo was almost giddy about getting to swim for so long without being forced to come up for air or running out of energy from the constant ascend and descend aspect of swimming for humans.
Dax hadn’t brought a clock with them, but he guessed they were under for at least an hour before Mateo started getting tired and Dax ushered him back to the surface to rest.
“I’m sorry,” Mateo murmured. He was on Dax’s back as they swam for shore, too tired to get there on his own.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Dax reassured him. “You’re not used to being under water like that. With practice, I’m sure you can stay down longer. I guess you’ll just have to come to the pool with me more often.”
His tone was teasing, and he got an eye roll in response, though the smile on his mate’s face softened it. “Oh no… How terrible…” Mateo drawled sarcastically.
“You know, that’s not something one generally wants to hear right after bonding,” a familiar voice said from the shoreline.
Dax’s head whipped up, and he beamed at his brother.
It’d been a while since he’d returned home, he usually came every weekend, but had avoided it to stay close to Mateo.
He was happy to see his brother again. It was only when they got close enough to stand that Dax remembered Mateo was naked.
He stopped Mateo from getting off his back, a disgruntled scowl on his face.
Rovan laughed, turning to face away from them with his hands over his eyes. “I won’t look, I swear. Hurry up and get dressed. I want to meet my new brother.”
Appeased by his brother’s quick acceptance, Dax helped Mateo out of the water, beaming when Mateo’s skin dried just as quickly as his did. That was a neat trick. And it made getting dressed less of a pain after being in the water.
“Hey, Rovan, how come you never told me mates get magic after bonding?”
“Because I didn’t know,” Rovan answered with a shrug.
Once Mateo was dressed, Dax turned to look at his brother, who still had his eyes covered and his back to them.
Dax hummed happily. Rovan had always been respectful of their boundaries.
Unlike their parents, who were a tad flaky and liked to play at being friends instead of parents, Rovan had raised them all from a young age.
He was only fifty when Dax’s older sister was born, and only one hundred when he came along next, and yet he still acted more like an adult than both their parents combined.
Tugging Mateo along with a grip on his hand, he only released him long enough to pounce on Rovan’s back and give him a big hug. Rovan’s arms dropped to squeeze his, and he smiled brightly over his shoulder at Dax in greeting.
“Hey. Welcome home.”
Grinning, he hurried back to Mateo, dragging him closer to introduce the pair. “Mateo, this is my older brother, Rovan. Rovan, this is Mateo. My mate.”
He was happy to be able to say that out loud that his tentacles practically danced. He wanted to shout it out to the whole world.
Rovan skipped the handshake Mateo offered, pulling him in for a hug instead.
“Welcome to the family. They’re all excited to meet you.
Though, I’m going to suggest you hold off for a little while.
” He shot an annoyed look at Dax. “Mom and Dad are home. Unless you want to subject your mate to them during his first visit, I’d hold off. ”
Dax made a face. “We, uh… have to work,” he lied.
He could probably make it work. Arthur had been fine with him taking time off for his bonding.
But Rovan was right. Introducing Mateo to their parents right now might not go well.
The first visit to the kraken city would already be overwhelming for him.
No need to overdo it with pure chaos. He’d introduce them… eventually.